Conventional battery electrodes are fabricated, for example, using a slurry consisting of active materials with a suitable binder and carbon additive, which is coated on thin metal foil current collectors, using a slot-die tool. The electrodes are dried, calendered and cut to size to make wound or stacked cells. To avoid cracking of the coating, especially thicker coatings, the coatings need to be dried very slowly. Also, slot die pattern coating processes deposit extra material at the lead and end edges of the coating causing coating uniformity issues.
Clearly, there is a need for faster drying of coatings and also improved coating uniformity, from the cost and yield perspective.